What We Become
by Reros
Summary: "I will never forget you," I said, holding out my hand towards him. I smiled. "If you promise to never forget me, either." This time he did look surprised, offended almost. "Never." - Erza Scarlet made a promise long ago to her childhood friend. Little did she know that the promise she made that day would cause her so much pain later on.
1. A Day Ruined

What We Become

* * *

Prologue: A Day Ruined

* * *

" _ **Now there you go again. You say you want your freedom. Well who am I to keep you down. It's only right that you should play it the way you feel it. But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness. Like a heartbeat drives you mad. In the stillness of remembering what you had. And what you lost."**_

 _ **Dreams – Gabrielle Aplin & Bastille**_

* * *

 **Erza's P.O.V**

* * *

 _We were sitting on the hill, like we had done so many times before. It was a cold winter night. So cold, in fact, that our breaths formed little clouds of fog when we exhaled. It was late too, probably somewhere around eleven pm. We weren't supposed to be up this late, much less being out, but we didn't care. This wasn't our first time doing something like this, and they had never noticed us before, so we weren't afraid of being caught. This was our special place. We were the only ones who came here - the only ones who knew about it. It belonged to just the two of us. Whenever we felt lonely, afraid or sad, either one of us would wake the other up and we'd sneak out together. We would sit here for hours, sometimes talking, sometimes just enjoying the company, sometimes to watch the stars above us. It was our little ritual and nothing could ever take it away from us._

 _At least, so I thought at the time._

 _Little did I know that this was our last time coming here, just the two of us._

 _His hand was in mine. Casually, because it just felt so natural. I looked away from the stars I had been previously watching and studied his face instead. He looked content, happy even, to just be here with me, watching the night become darker and darker. His mouth was forming a slight smile and his gaze was directed upwards. He knew I was looking at him, though, he always did. His green eyes were hidden behind his blue locks, but I could almost feel his gaze shifting towards me. I smiled and looked away. The night was absolutely stunning. There wasn't a cloud in sight, making the stars even brighter than usual and even though it was cold, it didn't bother me much. Nothing seemed to, when I was with him. And yet, even though I was surrounded by so much beauty, I couldn't focus on any of it. Something kept me from it._

 _"_ _Erza, look!" he said enthusiastically, while pointing at the dark sky above us. "Did you see that!? That must have been the first shooting star I've seen in years. It was beautiful wasn't it?"_

 _I had been too late and had missed it, but I nodded anyway. I didn't know why, I guess I just didn't want to disappoint him, as stupid as it sounds. He seemed content with the response, though, and we fell back in comfortable silence._

 _Normally I would have said something to start a conversation, but today I just couldn't think of anything. Although I had almost been quiet for the whole time we had been there and had only talked when asked something, he didn't seem bothered by my lack of conversation. He'd done the talking for the both of us, going on about how much fun he'd had when we played soccer earlier and about how annoying the caretakers had been lately. Eventually he had run out of things to say and we had just sat there, watching the stars and keeping each other company. I think he noticed that I was distracted, but he just chose to say nothing about it. He knew that when I felt ready to talk about it, I would. And I knew that he would listen. He always did. Usually, I would have told him what was on my mind by now, but this time was different. This wasn't just some kid making fun of my red hair or being mean to me. This wasn't just some problem that I could tell him about so that he would cheer me up. No, this was much bigger. And I was afraid. I was afraid that it would mean the end of our lifelong friendship. I knew that he had a right to know and I planned on telling him, I just didn't know how. So when I had asked him to come with me tonight, I gathered all of my courage and promised myself that, by the end of this night, he would know. Still, though, every time I could bring it up, I chickened out at the last moment._

 _No longer. I could do this. I took a deep breath and looked at him once more._

 _"_ _Jellal," I said, gaining his attention._

 _"_ _Yeah?"_

 _"_ _There's something I need to tell you..." I paused for a bit and studied his familiar face. His blue, spiky hair, his kind green eyes and his strange red tattoo, I knew it all so well. I had known Jellal for almost as long as I could remember, and yet I continued to discover new things about him every day. Things I had not noticed before, like how his eyes sparkled when he talked about what he wanted to do when he grew up or how he clenched his teeth together every time one of the caretakers lost their temper once again. I just to think that I knew everything there was to know about my best friend called Jellal Fernandes, and yet he continued to surprise me. Time and time again, he'd do the unpredictable thing and I was left wondering how well I actually knew him or if I knew him at all._

 _"_ _What is it, Erza?"_

 _His question surprised me and I knew I had drifted of again, a habit I had formed as of late. His green eyes locked with mine and I suddenly didn't know what to say._

 _"_ _Eh.., well... you see...," I stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. Once again, I took a deep breath. I had to do this now, tonight. This was my last chance. It was now or never._

 _"_ _I'm moving away, Jellal," I managed to get out. I felt my eyes begin to water and out of a sudden, two arms were wrapped around me. I didn't know what came over me, but I suddenly lost it. Tightly wrapped in his embrace, I began to cry uncontrollably. I didn't know where it all came from. I was supposed to be happy about this. It was every orphan's dream. Part of me really_ was _happy, but the other part – the bigger part – just felt like it was so unfair. I felt like I was leaving Jellal behind and it made me feel guilty. So very guilty._

 _"_ _Jellal," I was able to say between the sobs. "I'm going to get adopted."_

 _I had expected him to be surprised, to say the least. I had expected him to be angry, to feel abandoned, to feel betrayed. I had expected him to let go of me, to turn away from me._

 _He did none of those things._

 _He simply continued to hug me and I could almost_ feel _him smile._

 _"_ _That's great, Erza" he whispered in my ear, almost as if he had been expecting this conversation. "I'm happy for you. You'll have a great time with your new family."_

 _He finally pulled away from me and was now looking me in the eye. Brown and green. Red and blue. Erza and Jellal. That is how it had always been. That is how I wanted it to always be._

 _One single tear fell from his eye as he looked into mine. "Just promise me that you won't forget your old one. Promise me that you won't forget us. That you won't forget me."_

 _I simply nodded, afraid that my voice would fail me at that moment. "Of course I won't. You're my best friend. How could I ever forget you?"_

 _He simply smiled at that and even though he had claimed to be happy, I saw the hidden sadness behind it. It pained me to see him like that – so vulnerable. He had always been the one to cheer those around him up. He was always smiling, always kept a few encouraging words in reserve for those who needed them. He was our rock, our safe-haven – the one we depended upon to give us hope again when we lost sight of it. I wanted to comfort him. I just couldn't find the right words to do so. So I did the only thing I could think of at that moment._

 _"_ _I will never forget you," I said, holding out my hand towards him. I smiled. "If you promise to never forget me, either."_

 _This time he_ did _look surprised, offended almost. "Never."_

 _"_ _Well then," I said and grinned slightly. I extended my pinkie so and grabbed his with it. "you'll have to promise it to me, or else I won't believe you."_

 _"_ _Of course," he said and he, too, was now grinning. "if that's what it'll take for you to believe me."_

 _Maybe we were a little bit too old for this, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Together, we sang the chant and afterwards, we just continued to smile at each other. At first there was a bit of a silence, but then we broke loose in conversation. I was glad I had told him and that it hadn't changed anything. We were best friends and we would continue to be, even though I was leaving soon. We_ had _promised, after all. We were eleven, at the time. Too young yet, to realize that it was not our decision to make. That we couldn't just promise something and everything would be okay. It wasn't._

 _After I got adopted, I saw him only once. That one time changed it. It crushed my hopes and dreams._ He _crushed them._

* * *

I woke up with a jolt. It was _that_ dream again. Of course it was. This time was different from all the others, though. Somehow, it was more vivid, more detailed – as if it was more like a direct look into my memory than an actual dream. I cringed at the familiar pain I felt whenever I thought of that time and it wasn't long before I felt anger flaring up inside of me. Even after all those years, after what he had done to me, I still miss him. I told myself that I was over it – over _him_. But I was lying to myself. Part of me knew that, but I was too stubborn to admit it. After all, persistence pays off, right?

Determined to forget the dream, I looked at the alarm clock beside me. 6 am. Well, at least it had woken me up on time. Unwillingly, I got out of bed. I would never confess it, but that dream had really messed with my head and I couldn't properly preform my morning schedule because of it.

"Even though I haven't seen you in years, you still like to ruin my day, don't you, Jellal?" I said to no one in particular. I was alone in the house, so no one answered me. Of course not. But for a moment, I had almost expected him to answer me. Almost.

I sighed and instead went to prepare breakfast for myself and didn't think about it anymore – well tried to, at least. Exactly half an hour later, I shut the door, got in my car and was on my way to school. Today was an important day, the start of my senior year at Magnolia High. And as the Student Council President, I couldn't afford to be late. Not even on the first day of school – _especially_ not on the first day on school.

When I arrived, I went straight to the principal's office. Because this was the first day of school, there surely was something that needed taking care of and I needed to get my mind of of things. Win win situation, right? I knocked on the door to ask permission.

"Come in," was the answer from the other side of it.

I opened the door and entered. Inside, behind the desk that was way too large for him, sat Principal Makarov – or 'Master' as most students here called him. I didn't know how or when it had started, but everyone began to call him that eventually, so I just went along with it. No questions asked. The man himself was, in one word, small. To the point of ridiculousness, even. Still though, when he was mad, he suddenly seemed too grow immensely. But I guess that was just his aura or something.

"Master, I was wondering if you had something for me to do."

He looked up from his desk and his face fell into a look of recognition. "Ah, Erza, it's you. I'm sorry, my dear, but there isn't anything that demands your attention at the moment." He must have seen my face fall a little, because he quickly added: "There is, however, some news that you might be interested in hearing."

"... What is it?"

"I have received word about a new student that will transfer here from another school. I don't know the details about it myself, but I know that he or she is in the same year as you are, so please, show him or her around for me, will you?"

I had expected as much, so I didn't need to think twice about the answer. "Of course, Master, you can count on me."

"I know I can, Erza, and thank you."

"It's no problem at all, sir."

He simply smiled at that, as if he had been expecting the answer. He probably had. "Well, then. Now that that's taken care of, why don't you head over to your first period? I think it'll to start soon. You already have your schedule, right?"

I nodded and said my goodbyes afterwards. A few moments later, I was headed towards my first class. Math. I guess that was good. I liked math, I understood it. I hadn't noticed it, but, in the course of the morning, my bad mood turned into a good one and the dream was forgotten.

I walked into the classroom and greeted a few familiar faces, before heading over to my usual spot. I sat down and immediately, Lucy, one of my closest friends, started a waterfall of words. I laughed.

"Slow down! I can't understand a thing you're saying, if you talk that fast."

"Sorry, Erza," the blonde said, smiling. "I'm just so excited! It's the beginning of senior year, you know. This year, for sure, I'll make Natsu notice me!"

I laughed again. For about as long as I knew Lucy, she had had a crush on Natsu. And I wasn't the only one who knew. Hell, probably half of the school knew by now. Everyone except the idiot himself, of course. "Yeah, sure you will. You said that last year, too."

"I mean it this time, Erza!" Her eyes twinkled mischievously. "I have a plan and it'll work, I just know it."

Before I could ask, however, what her new 'master plan' was all about, the teacher, Mr. Macao, announced the beginning of class.

"Hello students," he said, earning a halfhearted 'hello Mr. Macao' back. "I see you're all just as excited as I am to start this class," he continued dryly. "Anyway, most of you probably know this by now, but for those who don't: a new student transferred here and he was placed in this class."

The slight murmuring that had been going on previously, suddenly swelled immensely. And Mr. Macao tried to quieten it a little, but it was in vain. Only when a tall boy walked into the classroom, it died down.

I was shocked. I felt my breath stock. I couldn't be. There was no way. It just couldn't. It was a mistake. My eyes must have been deceiving me, there was no other explanation. I was still influenced by the dream from that morning and now my mind was playing tricks on me.

The teacher's voice ripped all of my doubts and hopes apart.

"Please, class, let me introduce you to Jellal Fernandes who will be your classmate as of now."

Well, he really _did_ like to ruin my day.


	2. My predictions are wrong

What We Become

* * *

Chapter 1: My predictions are wrong. Period.

* * *

" _ **Seven years has gone so fast. Wake me up when September ends. Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars. Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are. As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost. Wake me up when September ends. Summer has come and passed. The innocent can never last. Wake me up when September ends."**_

 _ **Green Day, Wake me up when September ends**_

* * *

 **Erza's P.O.V**

* * *

To see him again was as painful as it was weird. After our last meeting, I had thought that that had been the end of it; he was something of the past and I would never hear from him again, he had made that quite clear. I had told myself that it was for the best, that forgetting him would erase all of the pain I felt every time I saw his smiling face in one of my dreams.

Needless to say, that was easier said than done. Still, for all these years, I had – with greater success than anticipated – managed to avoid any thoughts related to him. He was still at the back of my mind, ready to jump me if I showed an opportunity. Most of the time, I had had it under control, but it was during the night that he was more successful. When I wasn't in control of my mind and the images it produced, he was everywhere. Even so, I told myself after every relived memory, every dream that they weren't more than just that: memories and dreams. He wasn't coming back. The boy I had once known was gone.

So when I saw him standing in the doorway, cocky grin and all, my highly trained – and therefore perfected automatic response-method kicked in. I did the only thing that seemed to make sense at the time: I told myself that this wasn't real and that it was nothing but another one of my dreams.

That was stupid, of course. I knew that. But it was the only way I knew how to handle it.

Unknowingly, I must have been staring at him, because Lucy joked, "Don't let him catch you drooling all over him, or you won't stand any chance at all."

For a second, I was too stunned to respond and quickly tore my gaze away from Jellal. Instead, I glared at Lucy, trying to convey how wrong she was.

She didn't get the hint, I think, because she simply punched my arm playfully and continued, "Oh, don't give me that look, Erz. I mean, I get where you're coming from: he _is_ hot. And we're not the only ones who think so.."

I looked around to she what she had meant by that and saw several girls 'drooling' over Jellal, as Lucy had so nicely put it. I almost pitied them. Almost. They didn't know Jellal like I did, be it the new or old him. They, however, didn't know how easily he would break their hearts, like he had broken mine that day. They would throw themselves at him, they always did. And he would gladly accept them. He'd play with them for a while and then toss them aside when he got bored. Because that was who he had become.

If Jellal had noticed the looks of adoration he was receiving, he chose to ignore it. He began his introduction instead, sounding bored, as if he'd done it many times before, "As announced, my name is Jellal Fernandes. I transferred here from Clover High and before all of you ask me why – that's my business." He paused for a moment and looked around the classroom. For the first time, I was grateful that my seat was at the end of the room, near the window, almost invisible from where he was standing. He didn't seem to recognize or even notice me. "Questions?"

The class immediately interrupted in various shouts, ranging from "Is that your original hair color?" to "Are you single?". Jellal answered every one of them with confidence. Yes, he was born with this hair and yes, he was single. The latter caused another bombardment of excited whispers. I gritted my teeth.

Mr. Macao got fed up with the questions and, wanting to go on with the lesson, he told Jellal that it was enough for now. "We don't get a lot of transfer students around here," he said, "but I think we can find some place for you, Jellal." His eyes roamed over the classroom, in search of a spare desk and I could only hope that he wouldn't choose the one behind me.

Of course, I should've known better.

"Jellal, why don't you sit behind Erza there?" Mr. Macao asked, seeming happy with his solution.

His gaze turned to where Mr. Macao was pointing and locked onto mine. I had expected him to be surprised to say the least, but his smirk only widened at the sight of me, almost as if Jellal had known all along that I attended here. Maybe he did. I let the thought play in my mind for a second, but then I quickly discarded it. No, I told myself, that wasn't possible. He wanted nothing to do with me, he'd told me as much.

I saw him open his mouth to reply, expecting him to turn the offer down. "Gladly," he said instead. By now, I was convinced that my predictions were doomed to fail.

With the whole class watching his every move, Jellal approached me silently and sat down behind me. Mr. Macao, glad that that was over, began with the lesson. I couldn't focus. It was useless to even try, that much was clear. My senses seemed hyper alert to everything Jellal did, my mind seemed to wander back to him every time I set it straight.

* * *

When the bell finally rang, it came to me as a relief and I was more grateful for it than ever before. As glad as I was that Jellal hadn't talked to me or even acknowledged that he knew me, I couldn't help but feel a little bit surprised too, angry even. Didn't he know how much he had hurt me? Didn't he know how hard it had been for me to try and forget him? But if he wanted to ignore me, I wasn't going to stand in his way. I didn't know him, after all. I knew the person he _had been_. And that was the end of it.

Or so I thought.

In a hurry to leave Jellal behind me, I dragged a slightly irritated Lucy out of the room as soon as I heard the liberating sound, she didn't comment on my eagerness to leave the classroom, though, and I was grateful for that. Together, we walked walked toward the cafeteria, like we did every day. She was busy chatting about something, but I wasn't really listening.

She noticed, of course. "Is everything OK, Erza? You seem a little out of it today." Her eyes took on a mischievous glint. "Don't tell me it's the new guy… Damn, Erza, you move fast!"

I bit back a stinging remark and forced a smile. A fake one at that, but Lucy seemed to buy it. "I told you: it's nothing like that. And I feel fine, thanks." She didn't look all that convinced, so I quickly changed the subject, "Let's go already, Lucy. The others are probably waiting for us. And no one knows what kind of mess Natsu and Gray will get themselves into if I'm not there to stop them."

Lucy took the bait and let out a laugh. "Yeah, you're right," she said. "We _should_ hurry."

Having arrived at the cafeteria, I was glad to see that the mess was kept to a minimum. Natsu and Gray _were_ , unsurprisingly, fighting over something stupid. I could hear their loud voices all the way from the other side of the room.

"…oh so you just _happened_ to drop my sandwich," Gray said, pushing his face close to Natsu's, no doubt trying to be intimidating. Keyword being 'trying'.

"I told you! That guy bumped into me! It was an accident!" Natsu angrily replied, already tensing his muscles, ready to jump Gray at any given moment.

"Buy me a new one, you stupid flame-for-brains!"

"Never, you dumb frosty-breath!"

That, I decided, was my cue. "Knock it off, idiots!" I said while slapping them both on the back of their heads.

"Yes, Erza!" They responded immediately, putting an arm around the other in order to show their newfound good will.

I smiled, glad that I still had the wanted effect on them - even after all these years. "Good to see you're getting along now."

The others – Mirajane, Cana, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy and Lucy – began to laugh at that and soon we all broke into comfortable and funny conversation. Everything seemed like it had always been: just some friends hanging out and having a good time, and for a moment Jellal had been forgotten. My peace was short-lived, however, because Lucy just _had_ to bring the topic to the light. I figured that it had just been a matter of time.

"Did you guys hear about the new guy yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, of course. I heard he's hot," Mirajane said, earning a few scoffs from Natsu, Gajeel and Gray.

Juvia saw an opening, so – needless to say – she took it, "Don't worry, Gray-sama! Juvia still things you're way hotter." We all sweat dropped. Poor Juvia.

"Err… Thanks, Juvia," Gray said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. Ever the gentleman.

Mira, eager to know more, said, "Right… Back to the topic: is it true?"

Lucy shrugged. "I suppose so." She looked at me. Oh no, don't you dare, I thought. Too late. "And our little Erza here has a crush on him."

Juvia and Mira squealed, Levy smiled and I just rolled my eyes, something I seemed to do a lot today. "No, I have not," I told them, but they were to busy planning my wedding to notice – or care. If only they knew, I thought. I had never told them about Jellal, but they knew about my days in the orphanage. I don't know why I didn't, it just never came up.

Or that was the excuse I told myself.

In truth, it was just a bit too personal. Even though, I had known these people for years and trusted them with my life (except maybe Natsu occasionally when he's being too much of an idiot), it just didn't feel right to me. Besides, if it really was in the past, like I'd told myself over and over again, why bother? It wasn't like it would help anything. Although, they wouldn't be pestering me right now if they knew..

Mira, Lucy and Juvia seemed to have dropped the subject at last and began about something different. Something which I – at the moment at least – had no interest in. Levy was trying to teach Gajeel something about their previous class, with disappointing results. Cana, as usual, was busy drinking some alcoholic beverage from her flask. You'd think she would do it a little less out in the open, but this was Cana. She didn't care. Elsewhere, Gray and Natsu had begun fighting again. Over something stupid, no doubt, but I decided to let it go for now.

My eyes wandered around the cafeteria. Some faces I recognized, others I didn't. There was no sight of Jellal, and I was content. I saw Lisanna making gestures to her brother, Elfman, but he was too busy staring at Evergreen to really get what she was trying to tell him. The latter was sitting with her 'squad' – besides her, consisting of Laxus, Freed and Bixlow – in the corner of the room trying to look above it all. In another other corner, Bisca and Alzack were unconsciously flirting with the other. I wished they would get it over with already. A little closer, Jet and Droy were trying to get Levy to pay attention to them instead of Gajeel by fake-crying. She, being the saint she was, let Gajeel study on his own for a minute and began a conversation with them.

People were shouting, laughing, fighting and from where I was sitting the situation could be described by just one word: complete and utter chaos. Okay, maybe four words, but who cared anyway? All I'm saying is that it was just like every other day. And suddenly, all was good again.

Taking it all in, I felt my mind slip back to when I'd met all of these people. It was one of my happier memories.

* * *

 _That day, if I remember correctly, was a cold day in the beginning of January. A fresh layer of snow covered everything, making it almost impossible to see if you were walking on the road or someone's lawn. It was freezing and I was trying you best to keep myself warm by rubbing my arms. My clothes should have been warm enough, but there was something about the wind that manages to chill you, despite how many layers you were wearing._

 _I was eleven. It had been a year since I'd left the orphanage to go live with my new family. Which was great. I should've been happy. I_ was _, to some extent._

 _Rob, my adoptive 'father' (he was too old to be my father, so I called him Grandpa instead), was all I could ask for. They told me that he was some faraway family of mine, my father's uncle or something. He was the very first family member_ _I had ever laid my eyes on and when I met him, all I could think about was how kind he looked. He didn't disappoint me. When I finally trusted him enough to tell him I was scared, he'd smiled._

" _I know you are," he'd said. "And I know it will take some time getting used to all this, but I promise you: from now on I'll be here for you, so don't hesitate to come to me for anything at all."_

 _That had changed everything. Never before had any adult showed such kindness and care towards me and I loved him for it. Still, though, I couldn't help but feel lonely. In a house were everything was foreign to me and a neighborhood where I knew no one, I was lost. Rob offered to take me to visit the orphanage any time I'd like, but every time I did, Jellal seemed busy doing something or another, so I never saw him. I felt a little hurt at first, but then I remembered that no matter what, we'd always be friends. We'd promised after all, right? About nine months after I'd gone away, I learned that my other friends at the orphanage (Wally, Milliana, Simon and Shô) had also been adopted and they wouldn't tell me where they were now. "Somewhere better" was all I got._

 _I felt sorry for Jellal now that all of his friends were gone and I tried to visit as often as I could. There was still no sign of him, but the caretakers assured me that he was fine. I began to give up. If he wasn't there, what was the point of coming in the first place? My visit became less regular until they stopped altogether._

 _So here I was, a lonely eleven-year-old without any friends (I had a problem fitting in at school, too) aimlessly wandering the streets at 3 PM, looking for something to do._

 _I came across a playground. Various kids who looked about my age were playing some kind of ball game. It seemed fun, because they were all laughing loudly. I had never seen them before. Where did they live? Did they come here every day? For a second, I wondered if I should go over there and join in the fun, but then I decided against it. They'd just look at me weirdly like all the other kids from school did every time I tried approach them, before laughing at me._

 _I turned my head away from the sight and was about to continue my walk, when something hit my head. Hard._

" _Auww!" I yelled, a bit louder than I would've wanted. I rubbed the back of my head. "That hurt."_

" _Sorry, my bad."_

 _I turned around. One of the kids who'd previously been playing, was standing behind me. I now noticed that the one who'd apologized was a boy. A boy with pink hair. Weird._

 _He scratched the back of his neck, a bit awkwardly. "We weren't looking and then-"_

" _It's alright," I said, cutting his explanation short. I smiled slightly. "I wasn't paying attention either."_

 _He let out a breath, clearly relieved. Then, his mouth formed the biggest grin I had ever seen. "I'm Natsu."_

" _Erza," I simply replied, still a bit cautious. I had never been good at making friends._

" _Nice to meet ya, Erza!" He exclaimed, still grinning._

" _You too, Natsu."_

 _There was a pause after that and I searched my mind for something to say before it got even more awkward. He was faster. "Hey, Erza, can I have the ball back?"_

 _I looked at the object in my hands. I didn't even realize I was holding it. "Ehm.. Yes.. Of course! Sorry…" I stuttered while handing him the ball. I thought that was the end of out little conversation and I already turned around. Natsu, apparently, had other plans._

 _Before I could walk two steps, he asked: "Where're you goin'?"_

 _I turned around once again to see the confused look on his face. "Back home, of course," I said, matter-of-factly. Where else would I be going?_

" _Don't you wanna play with us?"_

 _It took me longer than normal to process what he was saying. I was astonished. "Do you want me to?"_

"'C _ourse, we want you to!" Before I knew what was happening, he had grabbed my wrist and was dragging me along to the playground. "It's gonna be fun, I promise."_

 _And it was._

 _The other children weren't the least bit surprised that Natsu had brought me with him and began introducing themselves to me. Gray, Cana, Mirajane, Levy, Lisanna, Elfman, Max, Jet, Droy, Bisca, Alzack. It was an awful lot of names for me learn all at once, but I printed every last one of them so deep into my memory that I was positive that I couldn't forget them even if I wanted to. Because for the first time in a long time, I didn't feel so lonely anymore. And that was worth the world to me._

 _We played for a while and began roaming the streets like I'd done before that, when we got bored of it. Only this time it was different. This time it was actually fun. We laughed and talked as if we had known each other for years and I was surprised how easily they accepted me, but even more how easily I felt at home with them._

* * *

I smiled, like I always did when I remembered that day. They'd saved me, I was sure. Imagine my joy when I had found out they attended the same school as I did. We became very close. All of us. As the years progressed, others were added to the group, like Lucy, Juvia and Gajeel. The older we got, the harder it was the keep in contact with every one of them. So our big band of friends fell apart into smaller groups eventually. Don't get me wrong: we all stayed friends, but I didn't spend as much time with some of them as I used to. It was mostly Natsu, Gray, Mirajane, Cana occasionally, and me. Later, when Lucy, Juvia and Gajeel joined, Levy also began to hang out with us.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Hey, Erz, your crush has joined the party," Mirajane said, putting a hand on my shoulder, successfully ruining my good mood. His presence seemed to have that particular power. "Look!"

I looked towards where she was pointing. And fair enough, there he was, walking into the cafeteria as if nothing was wrong. As soon as he entered, many heads were turned into his direction – those who knew his 'new guy-status' at least. He smirked, obviously enjoying the attention.

Mira whistled. "You sure know how to pick 'em."

By now, I had become pretty tired of this. "Like I said: I. Do. Not. Like. Him."

She smiled. "Sure you don't."

I knew any attempt to convince her would be fruitless, so I did the only thing that rested me: I tried to change the subject: "Woah, did you see that?! Elfman just swallowed his whole sandwich!"

It was pitiful, I know. She didn't even look. "That's cute, Erza."

"Wait a second," Lucy joined the oh so wonderful conversation. "Who is _that_?"

I followed her gaze. I now saw that Jellal wasn't alone. He was busy sticking his tongue down some girl's throat – in the middle of the cafeteria. I felt like throwing up. I think I would have, if I hadn't been in public. Instead, I swallowed the urge and shrugged. "No idea."

"Juvia thinks that's Ultear. She also transferred here together with Jellal. Juvia didn't know they knew knew each other."

"Well, they seem real tight to me," I replied. That, as it turned out, was the wrong thing to say.

"Aww, Erza, don't give up just yet. They might break up," Lucy said, trying to cheer me up.

Mirajane felt like it wasn't enough: "Yeah, just watch: once he sees you he won't be able to look away."

"Thanks guys, for the support." I tried to put as much sarcasm as I could into that short sentence, but they ignored it.

"No prob," Mira answered.

"Wait, who were you guys talking about?" Gray said, sounding a little bit worried.

Lucy gestured towards the pain. "About them: Jellal and Ultear. They're the talk of the town."

He followed her hand with his gaze, shock clearly written all over his face. "What the hell are they _doing!?"_

Gajeel decided to join the fun: "Exploring each other's insides using their knowledge of biology." I was impressed at his choice of words and let out a laugh. Levy's hard work was finally paying off. Maybe not in the situation she would've wanted it to, but still.

Gray, apparently, didn't think it was funny at all: "Dude! That's my cousin!"

I laughed even louder. "Well, I suggest you get used to the sight, because judging from the looks of it, we'll be seeing a lot of that around here."

"No way." He violently shook his head. "I'm not gonna let that happen. I'm going over there right now!" And he was off.

If it had been someone else, I probably wouldn't have found it quite as funny. But there was something Gray wanting nothing more than to punch the living daylights out of no one other than Jellal that just made me want to laugh. Which was exactly what I did. The others looked at me weirdly. I let them.

My fun was cut short, however, by the sound of the bell. Me and my friends quickly gathered our stuff, said our goodbyes and went to our respectable lockers. On my way there, I tried to remember what my next class was. Biology. I cringed. My biology teacher was Ms. Porlyusica, who - let's just say - wasn't known for her tolerance. And, seeing that today was the first day of school and my status as student council president, I couldn't afford to be late. I dumped the last of my books in locked, grabbed out the new ones and closed it.

My resolve to be on my way straight after that, was broken by a voice however. "So, _Scarlet_ , late on your first day? That doesn't seem very appropriate for student council president, now does it?" It was him.

Of course it was.

I was taken aback by his use of my old surname. He was the one who gave it to me when I'd just arrived at the orphanage. I had been transferred there from another one and didn't know anyone. He was the first to speak to me. After I'd introduced myself, he'd noticed my surname. Or rather the lack there of . Jellal gave me one: Scarlet. He said that it was because of my hair. It was my most prized possession and the greatest gift I had ever received. When I got adopted, there was even a time when I hold onto that name. I had begged Grandpa Rob to let me keep it. He, being the man he was, granted my wish. But after I saw Jellal again, two years later, I desperately wanted to get rid of it. Grandpa Rob didn't know what made me change my mind so suddenly, but he had agreed to it anyway. Today, I bore the name 'Steeler' (Rob's surname) instead of 'Scarlet'.

"What do you want, _Fernandes_?" I asked in the same tone he'd previously used.

A smirk. "Why so cold, to an old friend?"

"We're not friends. You've made that perfectly clear, remember?" I said, gritting my teeth.

Something flashed behind his green eyes, then it was gone. Guilt? Regret? I couldn't read him like I used to, so I wasn't sure. What had he to regret anyway? After all, he was the one who ended thinks. "Yeah, I do. I was just checking if you did too, you know, with me transferring to this school and all."

"What's up with that anyway?"

He shrugged. "Got bored, decided to do something new." I didn't buy it, but I had a feeling that was all I was going to get.

I scoffed. "And of all the schools in Magnolia, you just _had_ to choose this one," I said sarcastically.

"Someone thinks she's important," he teasingly said.

"Not really." I took a step towards him, done with this pointless conversation. "Now if you'll _excuse_ me: I have a class to get to and so do you."

Half fast-walking, half running, I made my way to Biology. I was late, but I hoped that Ms. Porlyusica would excuse me just this once. Out of the goodness of her heart, because it was the first day. Something told me that hope was in vain.

When I arrived, she was already standing in the doorway, undoubtedly on the lookout for latecomers. Like me. I swallowed, and walked towards her. "I'm sorry I'm late, Ms. Porlyusica," I told her. Which was true. Being late wasn't my thing, being student council president and all, so I always tried my best to be on time. Because of that, I had a record of being on time. A record which was now broken, thanks to him. "It won't happen again."

It wasn't enough. "Being late on the first day of school – on any day of school for that matter – is not something I can dismiss so easily, Ms. Steeler. Although I know that you don't normally do this, I have to set an example that this kind of behavior is intolerable. I will see you here, after school, in my classroom. Do you understand?"

I nodded, numbly. Detention on the first day of school! I was crushed. I couldn't afford something like this with my position, where I should be setting a good example instead of showing everyone what _not_ to do on the first day.

"Without saying, that goes for you too, Mr. Fernandes," the biology teacher continued.

I slowly turned around and saw him standing behind me. I hadn't noticed, but he must have followed me here.

"Of course," he said lightly. The whole thing was no big deal to him, apparently.

Ms. Porlyusica began some sort of rant about children these days and how she hated them. Normally, I would have said something about it, but at that moment I was too busy processing to care. What had I gotten myself into?

We made our way to our seats. Jellal leaned closer and whispered: "I guess I'll see you in detention then, _Scarlet_."

I could've punched him right then and there.

* * *

 **Sooo... That's the end of the first chapter already. How did you guys like it? Do you think any of the characters are too OOC? ('too' because this story is an AU, so they're all a little OOC in one way or another..)**

 **Anyway, I want to thank anyone who has reviewed, followed or favorited this story. It really means a lot to me and I hope you'll continue to support me.**

 **I've kept you long enough now, so until the next chapter!**

 **-Reros**


	3. Detention straight from hell

What We Become

* * *

Chapter 2: Detention straight from hell

* * *

 _ **"Weep for yourself, my man. You'll never be what is in your heart. Weep, little lion man. You're not as brave as you were at the start. Rate yourself and rake yourself. Take all the courage you have left. And wast it on fixing all the problems that you made in your own head. But it was not your fault but mine. And it was your heart on the line. I really fucked it up this time. Didn't I my dear? Didn't I my..."**_

 _ **Mumford & Sons, Little Lion Man**_

* * *

 **Jellal's P.O.V**

* * *

I had recognized her immediately of course. That scarlet red hair was difficult to forget and easy to spot. She sat in the corner of the room, near the window, trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible – and failing miserably. The sun shone on her hair, giving it an even brighter tint of red.

Red. That had always been her color. Whenever I stumbled across it, be it visually or verbally, my immediate thought would always be something among the lines of "Erza's hair color is more beautiful.." or "I wonder if that shade would match her hair.." It had to stop, I knew that. She and I were over, and I had to let go. I _had_ , but my mind wouldn't listen. It seemed programmed to bring everything I saw, heard or did back to her, even after all this time. Almost as if it was obsessed or something.

She was older than the last time I'd seen her – no surprises there – and yet she seemed strangely the same. Still the same timid, shy girl I had once known, just with a new appearance.

A stupid thought.

Of course she wasn't the same, none of us were. Staying who you are was harder than it sounded – I of all people should know that. And after what she's been through, I could only imagine how much she had changed.

 _You're partly responsible for that_ , a voice in the back of my head said.

Great. I was becoming insane now too. Just awesome.

 _Shut up_ , I told it anyway. Still though, I knew it was right. Before, this thought would've triggered a wave of guilt, but now it stayed quiet. Good. I had stopped feeling guilty a long time ago. Nothing good ever came of it, so why bother?

On my right, the teacher (I think his name was Marco or something) looked at me expectantly. Right. Here we go then. I cleared my throat and began my usual introduction: "As announced, my name is Jellal Fernandes. I transferred here from Clover High and before all of you ask me why – that's my business." I looked around and noticed most of the girls checking me out. I smirked. They made it too easy sometimes. "Questions?"

They were the same as usual and I answered every one of them with ease. I didn't really have to pay any attention, so I didn't. Instead, I looked at Erza from the corner of my eye. She seemed angry and was looking away. It was no use; she'd have to face me sooner or later. I found myself looking forward to that exchange. It would be be fun to mess with her a little.

"Alright, Jellal, I think that's enough for now," the teacher said after a while. He must have thought he was doing me a favor, because he nodded reassuringly at me. In truth, I didn't mind all the attention.

"We don't get a lot of transfer students around here," he continued, still looking at me, "but I think we can find some place for you, Jellal."

The way he said 'place' made it sound like he didn't just mean a place to sit in class. Oh I got it now: this guy was one of those teachers that wanted to do _more_ than just teach, he wanted to _help_ his students. Those were by far the most annoying. I was about to give him a sarcastic remark of some kind, but then I saw where he was looking at.

"Jellal, why don't you sit behind Erza there?"

I couldn't help it – my smirk grew wider. Of all the places he could've chosen (I saw several spare desks scattered around the classroom), he went for that one. There is no such thing as a coincidence, right?

"Gladly," was my only response. I walked over to my new desk and could almost _feel_ everyone looking at me. I ignored them and sat down instead.

The rest is of the lesson had been so boring, I barely took notice of it. I looked around the classroom a bit, but no one seemed interesting enough to remember. The guy sitting next to me was okay, though. He had spiky blond hair and a scar on the left side of his face that looked so much like a lightning bolt that I wondered if he'd done it himself. Then again, half of my face was covered by a red tattoo, so I wasn't really one to judge. He'd grunted that his name was Laxus – I think it was more out a need to do the polite thing than because he was really interested in me, but still. After that, he stayed mostly silent so we didn't have much of a conversation. No matter, we could bond in silence. (Yes, sarcasm intended, if you hadn't noticed)

Despite the fact that her red hair filled up most of my vision, I decided to ignore Erza for now. She was something for later. Almost immediately after I'd decided that, I wondered why I would even care. We were done, something of the past. She didn't know me and I didn't know her, not anymore. It was better that way – I'd decided that years ago. So why? Why did I still feel so drawn to her?

Just like every time a question that I didn't know came up, I stopped thinking about it.

I was glad when the lesson ended. I slowly rose from my seat and saw that Erza had already left the classroom. To avoid me, no doubt. I shrugged, I couldn't really blame her. I walked out of the room and took some time to think about where I'd go next. I knew we had a break, but it was my first day at a new school so I didn't really know what the 'good spots' were.

"There you are. I was looking for you," I heard a voice say from behind me.

I turned around and smirked. Ultear. I guess I'd just found my answer. "Yeah, sorry. I didn't know where you were, so I figured I'd just wait for you here," I said, shrugging.

"Cut the crap, Jellal," she told me. "You weren't even thinking about me."

"You know me so well, Ultear," I responded, fake adoration in my voice. And she did. She knew me – the new me. Good thing was: she didn't care. She didn't care I treated her like shit, she treated me the same way. We used each other. For popularity, for instance, but of course other things too.. There were no feelings involved, I didn't even know if you could call us an 'us'. As far as I was concerned, we weren't in any relationship. If she thought we were.. Well, let's just say I'd cheated on her enough times to make her reconsider. Not that I didn't like her. No, she really was beautiful and easy to talk to, but I liked to think about her as a friend. With benefits, of course, but very casual. And it was just what I needed.

"You know I do." Ultear grabbed my arm and looked at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Now, let's have some fun, shall we?"

I looked at her questionably. "What do you have in mind?"

"I heard my cousin is attending here," she explained. "We're going to piss him off."

I smirked again. "Sounds like a plan."

There was nothing even remotely special about the cafeteria of Magnolia High. Looking around, I almost believed that I was back at one of the other schools I'd attended. The cafeteria was nothing more than just that: a cafeteria. Not that that was a problem. No, I had never expected this school to be anything out of the ordinary – I hadn't even wanted it to. Ordinary was good. I could handle ordinary.

The only thing that set that particular cafeteria apart were the people in it. They were by far the loudest bunch I'd ever laid my eyes upon. And believe me when I tell you that that was saying a whole lot.

As out of habit, my eyes immediately began searching for that familiar shade of red. Luckily, I didn't find her. I seriously had to stop doing that. I looked at my right side, where Ultear was still holding my arm.

"You ready?" I asked her.

She rolled her eyes. "Do you even have to ask?" That earned her a small chuckle. "What?" she asked. "It's not like it's a big deal or something."

"Just checking."

She studied my face, her mouth tugged into a mocking smile. "Aww, look at you: all kind and considerate. I think it's _yourself_ you should worry about."

For a moment, my smirk dropped. I felt a slight panic arising. Did she know something? "What's that supposed to mean?" I said, my tone a bit more defensive than I'd intended it to be.

"You know, my cousin may be a bit younger than you, but he sure knows how to pack a punch when he wants to," Ultear answered, shrugging.

Relief washed over me. "Come on, you know I can take care of myself," I said, not fooling around for once. She seemed to notice my chance in tone and searched for my gaze. I didn't feel like being studied and looked away.

"Yeah," was all she said when she noticed her attempts were fruitless. Ultear then changed her tone to a lighter one and continued, tugging on my sleeve: "Well, are you still coming or what?"

"I haven't gotten a better offer so far," I responded, sounding bored. Which I was. Truth to be told, I couldn't care less about Ultear's cousin, but I had to do _something_ with my time. So pissing him of it was.

Ultear didn't seem to pick up on my mood, though. That, or she just didn't care. On second thought, that last option was probably true, because like I said: we used each other. And right now, it was her turn to use me, while I got something to do in return. Win-win, right? Sure, let's go with that.

She dragged me to the middle of the cafeteria and I could feel everyone's eyes on us. Good. News travelled fast at this school, it seemed. I saw Ultear's eyes search the crowd, no doubt in search of her unfortunate cousin. She seemed to have found him, because in one fluid motion, she dragged my mouth onto hers. Things heated up pretty fast, because – come on – we were Ultear and Jellal after all. But before the real fun could start, we were rudely interrupted.

An angry-looking guy with spiky raven-colored hair had grabbed my shoulder and had dragged me away from Ultear. I smirked at him, which only seemed to piss him of even more. Ten bucks this was the infamous cousin. And if my assumptions were correct, I'd say: mission accomplished, judging by the looks of it. The dude looked at me as if he wanted nothing more than to beat me up. Well, bring it on.

"Who do you think you are!?" he demanded to know.

I shook my head in feigning disappointment. "It's not very polite to ask something of someone without even bothering to introduce yourself, you know."

He gritted his teeth, trying to control his anger. Oh, I was having fun. "Do I look like I care?" So, we got a though guy here, eh? "Just stay away from my cousin!"

"I'm sorry, _though boy_ ," I said, coming closer to him and already preparing for the fight which was inevitable to break out at this point. "But I don't remember asking for your permission. Now tell me: what are you going to do about it?"

I swear, in that moment I could almost _feel_ his desire to connect his fist with my face. Someone with less confidence (or better common sense) than me would've probably apologized by now, hoping to avoid any conflict with this guy, who – might I add – looked perfectly capable of handling himself. Not me, though. No, I welcomed the chance to fight. It was something I knew how to do.

The cousin opened his mouth, either to reply or to yell some kind of battle cry. But before I could find out which it was going to be, the bell rang. Normally, this small interruption wouldn't be a problem, but this guy had somewhere to be apparently ( _that_ , or he was just scared of me and used every excuse he could get not to fight me without losing face), because he grumbled a curse and slowly walked away. But not before he turned around and glared at me as if to say: _This isn't over_ , which was exactly what he said after that.

I smirked. "Any time, any place."

Then I turned to Ultear. "Pissed off enough for you?"

"Yeah, I guess it'll do – for now," she replied, smiling deviously. I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes and sigh. Why couldn't she just laugh and be content for once?

"Whatever," I said. "Anyway, what's your next class?"

"Geometry. Yours?"

"Biology, but I have to go to my locker first." Having said that, I turned around and was on my way to my locker.

Was it rude to just walk away from her without saying anything to her?

Yes, of course.

Did I care?

Not in the slightest.

After what seemed like an eternity of searching (the damn secretary just gave me a number and didn't say were that number was located), I finally found my locker. The hall was almost deserted, which wasn't that strange seeing that the lessons had already started. Somewhere near the end, two people were still engaged in a conversation about some topic, which seemed real interesting, because the they were so invested in it, they failed to notice that everyone else had already left. Well, not _everyone_ else.

Just like before, I immediately took notice of her. Her scarlet-colored hair seemed to fill my vision and I had trouble looking anywhere else. My locker had to wait, I decided. This was _way_ better.

I walked up to her. Her back was turned to me and she didn't seem to have noticed me yet. For one creepy moment, I reached out to touch her hair, wondering if it would feel as soft as it looked. Then, my mind turned back on. What the hell!? Where did that come from? I stopped myself and mentally sighed in relief. Crisis averted.

I wasn't ready to admit defeat and walk away, though – not yet. My trademark grin slipped into place and I opened my mouth.

"So, _Scaret_ ," I said, emphasizing on the name, knowing that it would definitely rub her the wrong way. "Late on the first day? That doesn't seem very appropriate for student council president, now does it?"

Erza quickly turned around and believe me: the look on her face was priceless. I had trouble containing the laugh I felt coming up.

"What do you want, _Fernandes_?" she asked, mimicking my voice and glaring at me in a way that almost made me shiver. Well, looks like someone has been practicing in front of the mirror. But I wasn't backing away, though. This was our first conversation in _years_ and I was going to make it count.

"Why so cold, to an old friend?"

She basically radiated anger as she spoke her next words: "We're not friends. You've made that perfectly clear, remember?"

I wasn't prepared for the hurt behind her tough act and for an instant, I almost let my emotions get the best of me. I quickly regained control and my smirk was once again gracing my lips.

"Yeah, I do," I said, hoping that she hadn't noticed my little slip-up from just now. "I was just checking if you did too, you know, with me transferring to this school and all."

"What's up with that, anyway?" Erza questioned.

Wouldn't you like to know? Too bad you'll never find out. I shrugged, trying to make it seem as though there was no particular reason. "Got bored, decided to do something new."

My act didn't seem to convince her, because she scoffed. "And off all the schools in Magnolia, you just _had_ to choose this one," she said, the sarcasm almost dripping from her voice.

I saw an opportunity. "Someone thinks she's important."

"Not really," she said, coming closer and looking me in the eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me; I have a class to get to and so do you."

And then she was gone.

Well not really _gone_ – she was at the end of the hall – but you get the idea. I, of course, followed her immediately. Partly because I knew that she was probably going to her next class, biology, (no, I'm not some kind of obsessed stalker that I'd memorized her schedule on day one – I just happened to hear it somewhere) which was also my next class. And partly because even though I'd only had one stupid little conversation with her, messing with her seemed like the only _remotely_ fun thing that I'd done today (if you're not counting my near fight that is).

So I followed her, which was a lot harder than it sounds, because she was basically _running_ through the hallways. I mean, seriously, we were already late, so why the rush? It's not like five more minutes were going to matter anyway. Back at my last school, I used to skip at least half of the first school day – if not the whole day altogether. Man, I could almost _hear_ Cobra's reaction if he saw me like this: half-running after some girl through the hallways of a new school, trying to get to the next class on time (well, she was at least).

 _"_ _Well look at that, Jellal fucking Fernandes, infamous delinquent and playboy suddenly turned into a model-student. I must be goin' crazy,"_ he'd say, that annoying mocking smile all over his face, which always made me want to punch him. I never did. Because Jellal Fernandes, infamous delinquent and playboy, _never_ – under any circumstances whatsoever – lost his cool. Never. Instead, I'd probably say something about him and Kinana (because seriously: when was he going to see that it was never going to work?). He'd probably shut up after that. Then again, if I'd been there so he could've talked to me, he wouldn't have had to say anything, because I wouldn't have given him any reason to. So why was I now?

I quickly shook off the question. Not important right now. I saw Erza turn a corner and followed shortly after. She was no longer running (or fast-walking, whatever) and was instead talking to some woman. She was far, far too old to be a student so I guessed she was our biology teacher. Great. As long as she'd stay out of my business and wouldn't try to 'help' me, we'd be the best of buds. I couldn't help but feel a bit threatened by her, though, as if she was suddenly going to pull a broom out of nowhere and start beating me with it, which was ridiculous. Then again, this _was_ Magnolia High, home of the Fairies, judging by the things I'd heard about this place – anything was possible.

"...is intolerable. I will see you here, after school, in my classroom. Do you understand?" was what I caught as I came closer.

The look on Erza's face was worth every single hallway I'd had to run through to get here. She looked like she'd just seen a ghost and her worst nightmare standing side by side. And it was by far the best look I'd ever seen on her face (maybe excluding the time someone made her drop her cheesecake, but that's another story entirely).

"Without saying, that goes for you too, Mr. Fernandes," the teacher continued.

I wasn't surprised. I'd seen it coming a mile away, but Erza clearly hadn't. I could see that she was about to object, but before she could do so, I replied, "Of course." And that was that.

While busy ranting about children and their bad behavior, the teacher pointed at our seats. I was about to head over, but I couldn't resist making one little remark that I knew would make Erza furious.

"I guess I'll see you in detention then, _Scarlet_ ," I said, quietly so only she could hear it. And I take it all back. _That_ was by far the best face I'd ever seen her make.

* * *

Believe me when I tell you that detention, no matter which school you go to, is always boring as hell. This time was no exception to that rule. I would even dare to say that it was even _more_ boring than I remember detention ever to be. And that's saying a lot. Now imagine your most hated teacher (nine out of ten it's your math teacher, if you have to believe the countless high school movies, but I leave that up to you). Got it? Good. That teacher is sitting right in front of you, because, of course, you're put on the first row. He or she is staring right at you because you have detention and you are there to be punished, so he or she will try to make the most out of that time to make sure you remember it at the worst time ever (which in my case is a lost cause anyway, but they try their best anyway and you gotta give 'em some credit for that, right?). Naturally, you're not the only person in the classroom at that time, but for some unexplainable reason you're his or her target (even though it's your first day of school so you couldn't have done something _that_ bad). So most teachers will get tired of torturing you after a while and grab some kind of stupid magazine they brought from home to entertain themselves. Not this one. No, he or she seems to have an unlimited energy pool reserved just for moments like these and even after just five minutes you're already wondering how you're going to survive the remaining time. And... well, I could go on for a while, but I think you get the point.

Now, _that's_ what having detention with Ms. Porlyusica was like. Two hours (it was the first day of school for crying out loud! Didn't she have any mercy?) straight from hell. The only difference was that it was just me and Erza in the room so any hope remaining of me _not_ being her target was squashed immediately. Don't get me wrong here; it wasn't like I was afraid of her – or any other teacher for that matter. But that didn't mean that I liked having her in my immediate sight all the time or her continuously watching me. Now if she was just a bit prettier and a whole, _whole_ lot younger...

I looked around, something I _was_ allowed to do and tried to catch Erza's gaze, who sat three rows behind me. No luck. I tried a different method and tapping on the table with my fingers, that would surely draw her attention. Still no good. She was looking out of the window, refusing to even glance at me. Fine then. If that how we were going to play...

I began looking for something else to entertain myself with. There were some posters about various biological research topics, some books about plants and animals and – not to forget – a fake skeleton in the corner of the room. Long story short: there was nothing worth my attention. I searched my mind for any pretext I hadn't already used to get out of detention. That's when it struck to me: I was in a new school, which meant that none of these teachers knew me _or_ my lines.

Just as I opened my mouth to say something about my ill grandfather I absolutely _had_ to visit this instant because it may be my last chance to do so, someone stormed inside the classroom. The man looked frantic and must've run a long way to get here, because he was completely out of breath.

"Porlyusica, we need your help. Some kid from the track team named Jet has had an accident while trying to set a new record and he needs medical attention. Come quickly!" he said between occasional pants.

I could see her displeasure at doing so, but Ms. Porlyusica nodded sharply and began walking towards the door. Before heading out, she looked at me one more time and said, "Erza, I trust you to keep you both here while I'm away."

"Yes, Ma'am." I smirked. Oh Erza, and just how where you planning to do that?

* * *

 **And that marks the end of it already! Did you like the Jellal point of view or is it confusing? Personally, I thought that the story would benefit greatly with Jellal's thought from time to time, but you're the readers after all. Please let me know what you thought of it by reviewing. That would mean a lot.**

 **Quick question: Is this story worth continuing or should I just quit now before I waste any more time?**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading this!**

 **-Reros**


	4. Lost

What We Become

* * *

Chapter 3: Lost

* * *

 _ **"It's been a long day, living with this. It's been a long time since I felt so sick. I took a long walk straight back home. I could have walked back to San Francisco. I used to long for time alone. I used to long for a place of my own. And I'm losing faith in everything. I'm lost, so lost. I'm lost at see, you see. I used to long for broken bones. I used to long for a casket to call my own. I never had a problem facing fear, but I'm done, over and out, my dear. And oh, mercy me. God bless catastrophe. There's no way in hell you'll ever live to see through this, so drive yourself insane tonight. It's not that far away. And I just filled up your tank earlier today."**_

 _ **Alkaline Trio, Mercy Me**_

* * *

 **Erza's P.O.V**

* * *

My first thought was: _What's happened!? Is Jet going to be okay?_ (Because I was a good friend.)

My second thought was: _Please don't leave me alone with him!_ (Because even I was allowed to be a little selfish sometimes.)

Needless to say, my plea fell on deaf ears and Ms. Porlyusica left anyway. And of course she left me in charge. "Damn..," I muttered.

"What was that? Did I just hear the great Erza Scarlet cursing?"

I rolled my eyes. Well, that didn't take long. "Shut up. And we're still in detention, remember?" I looked at him to give him one of my famous glares. "And it's Steeler, not Scarlet."

Jellal shrugged. "I still like Scarlet better," he said, grinning, and for one moment all I saw was my best friend from all those years ago. Then it was gone.

"Whatever. Just be silent and stop bothering me," I replied while I turned my head away from his gaze.

"Alright. I guess I'll leave you alone then." I was surprised. That was easier than I thought it would be. My triumph was short-lived, however. He got up from his chair, packed his bag and began walking towards the door.

"Wait a second. What do you think you're doing?"

"Leaving. What else?"

Right. I must have known he wouldn't make it that easy. He never did, after all. Should have seen it coming, I guess. "No, you're not," I said in one last – and somewhat desperate (yes, I admit it) – attempt.

"Yes I am. And you'll just have to come with me if you want to try and stop me."

I got up from my chair and walked towards him. My hand grabbed his collar and I pulled him towards me.

"My, my, Erza. Are we getting physical now? You know you'd just have to ask, no need for violence."

I decided it was best to ignore him for now. "Listen, Jellal," I said while trying to put as much anger as I possibly could into those words, "you heard Ms. Porlyusica. I have to keep you here, so that's what I'll do. You already managed to get me into detention, so there's no way I'll screw this up. Now sit down and stay that way."

Unfortunately, my words didn't have the effect I wanted them to have, because Jellal just started to laugh as soon as I was done. "Well, Erza, I have to say: you've certainly changed."

"Yes. Being abandoned by the person you called your best friend tends to do that to you."

"Aww, are you gonna cry?"

I didn't even have to push back tears as I said, "Fuck you." I had definitely come a long way. Nevertheless, I released him from my grasp and took a step back. "Look, I don't even care what you do, as long as you just stay here until Ms. Porlyusica returns."

He looked around for a second. "In that case, why don't we play a game?"

I was taken aback and unsure to respond for a moment. I narrowed my eyes. "What kind of game are we taking about here?"

"Erza, get your mind out of the gutter! I was just going to propose a simple competition, but if you have something better in mind, then I am more than happy to oblige."

It took everything I had not to punch him in the gut. "What kind of competition?" I asked, teeth gritted.

"You know how you always used to brag how you were a master paper-airplane-folder, back at the orphanage?" I was surprised he remembered, but I didn't say anything as I mentioned for him to continue. "What do you think about putting your skills to the test?"

"What do you mean?"

He walked towards the window and motioned for me to come closer. I complied, cautiously. But, I must admit: he had peaked my interest. "Do you see that open window there?" he said while pointing at the school building at before us.

"Yes, so?"

"I'd like to challenge you to a bet: we both fold a paper airplane and when we're satisfied with how they turned out, we'll throw them towards that window. The one whose airplane comes closest to that window wins the bet."

"What are the stakes?" I asked.

He flashed me another one of his grins. "The winner gets to make the loser do one thing of their choosing."

I glared at him and scoffed. "Yeah, as if I'd agree to something like that."

"Non-sexually, of course."

"The answer is still no."

"Are you that afraid of losing?" He shrugged. "Guess you're not the 'master' you thought you were."

That irritated me. Someone questioning my abilities was the one thing I could not ignore. Well, that and someone insulting or hurting my friends. No doubt he knew that and was using that knowledge against me. Sometimes, I forgot how well we used to know each other. "Okay, you're on."

"What? I didn't quite hear that."

I rolled my eyes. "I said: I accept your stupid bet. And as you know, I play to win."

"We'll see about that."

As on cue, we both turned around and walked over to our respectable desks. When I sat down, he turned around and handed me a piece of paper, identical to his own. That was fair, I guess, so I accepted it. My hands seemed to remember the movements necessary to fold a paper airplane, because as soon as I started, they seemed to move on their own. Before I even knew it, I was done. And my plane was a damn good one, even if I say so myself. I looked up to see that Jellal had finished too.

"Ready to be beaten?" I asked him.

"I don't know. _Are_ you?" was the response.

I wasn't going to go down that easy. "Let's find out, shall we?" I said, and walked over to the open window. The trees on the schoolyard didn't seem to be moving, as far as I could tell, which meant that there was no wind to take into account. Good, it would be easier that way. I felt myself smiling – this win was as good as mine.

When we were still living at the orphanage all those years ago, Jellal and I had little competitions like this all the time. Back then there was never any prize to win, though. We did it just for the fun of it. Sometimes it was just the two of us, sometimes Milliana, Shō, Wally and Simon – who were our other friends there – decided to tag along. Because the orphanage was rather poor, we didn't have a lot of toys growing up, so instead, we invented our own little games to make up for that. They were all so much fun that I never really missed the toys other kids my age had, although I did get a little bit jealous sometimes when kids at our school started to brag about the gifts they received for their birthdays. I guess that when Jellal shut me out, I wanted to forget him. And I did – to some extent at least. But what I hadn't realized was that by doing so, I also let go of all the good memories I had from that time and, to be honest, it felt kind of good to revisit some of them. I looked at Jellal and tried to read him. Was this his intention all along? Could he, in his own, twisted way, be trying to make up for things? Was it possible?

"Do I have something on my face or am I just too handsome for you to look away?"

"Neither," was all I said.

"Not that I mind, of course. I mean: girls fawn over me all the time, I'm used to it by now. I honestly don't know what it is with you all..." He came closer and shot me his cocky smile. "you just can't resist me." Then again – maybe _not_.

"Dream on, you jerk," I told him, pushing him away.

"Either way, care to start?"

I eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds before deciding that he wasn't going to try anything. I sighed. "Fine, let's just get it over with."

He widened his arms in a dramatic gesture. "The stage is all yours, Scarlet."

"I told you to stop calling me that."

"And just what made you believe I'd listen?"

I had had quite enough of his remarks by now. "Human morals? But I guess you'd already tossed those out of the window a long time ago."

I could tell that had hurt him – even if it was just a little bit. It was the way his smile dropped a fraction for a moment there. "Whatever. Now, are you going to trow, or are you still having doubts?"

I stepped past him and in one, fluent motion, threw my paper airplane out of the window. It soared for a while before crashing into the wall of the other building about one meter above the target. It wasn't a perfect score, but it was still a good one and I was fairly confident I could beat him with it. "How's that for an answer, Jellal?"

He whistled between his teeth. "Not bad, I have to admit. Still, though, not good enough." And before I could even see him throw the thing, his plane was out of the window. I saw it gliding through the air in an almost perfectly straight line for a moment. Then it flew right into the window. I was surprised about how _un_ surprised I was about the outcome. Then it sunk in: oh God, I owed _Jellal_ a favor – _any_ favor. This was bad, real bad.

"N-no! It couldn't- You couldn't- You must have been cheating!" I know, that was childish. But I panicked, alright?

"And how do you suppose I would've done that? Tied an invisible string to it that magically guided it to it's destination?" Yeah, I hadn't actually thought that through yet... "Face it, Scarlet – you're mine."

"It's just one favor, Jellal! I don't _belong_ to anybody."

"Even if it's just one favor, I'll make the most out of it. You can bet on _that_."

Okay, _now_ I was scared. "I'd rather not, thanks," I bit back. I had always been kind of a sore loser, even if it was against Jellal. No, scratch that. _Especially_ if it was against Jellal.

That was when I heard the footsteps in the hall, quickly coming closer. I looked at Jellal in alarm. "That's Ms. Porlyusica. Hurry, sit down before she comes inside!"

For a long, torturous moment, it looked as though he wouldn't comply just to mock me. (Because who would get the blame if she found us like this? That's right: me). But then he surprised me by quickly gathering his remaining papers and sitting down as if he'd never left his seat in the first place. Wonders never cease, I guess..

"I see you two are still in here. I wasn't expecting that," Ms. Porlyusica said as soon as she entered the classroom. Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, I thought.

"Yes, Ms. Porlyusica. But how is Jet?"

"Oh, he's fine. Just a broken leg." I mentally sweat-dropped. _That's_ what she called 'fine'?

"Eh.., I see. Is he doing better now?"

"Well, he has to go to the hospital and as the acting nurse of this school, I am reacquired to go with him. So obviously, I can't look after the two of you and none of the other teachers seem to have the time. The only logical outcome that then remains is for me to let you go." If I hadn't just heard it myself, I wouldn't have believed it. Ms. Porlyusica, letting us go? No way. "But if either one of you give me even one more reason to give you detention again, I promise I won't be so lenient."

"We understand," I said, trying not to gulp, because even though I was not easily scared, I knew that that was _not_ an empty threat.

"Good. Now off you go."

I nodded once more and began packing my stuff. Jellal was already walking out of the classroom. I started to follow him, when I was stopped by something Prolyusica said:

"Oh, and Erza? Please say hi to Rob for me the next time you see him." I knew that she was asking me as the friend of my adoptive father, not as my teacher, because she addressed me as 'Erza' instead of 'Miss Steeler' like she usually did.

"Will do. I'm going to go over there now, in fact," I said with a nod of my head.

"Thank you."

I smiled, to reassure her that it was okay and she owed me nothing. "Don't mention it. I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

She smiled back at me, ever so slightly. "I would have gone myself, but everything with Jet.."

"It's okay." And when I saw that she still wasn't convinced, I added, "Really, it is."

A sigh. "Okay, then I entrust it to you. I'll see the next chemistry lesson."

"Yes. Goodbye Ms. Prolyusica."

"Goodbye Erza."

Without saying anything else, I walked out of the classroom. I half-expected Jellal to be there waiting for me, but he wasn't. All the better, I thought, because now I at least didn't have to worry about that. As I walked through the empty hallways for the second time that day, I heard voices though. Normally I would have respected the speaker's privacy and have continued minding my own business. I don't know why exactly, but this time was different – something inside me was drawn to the sound, almost as if my body knew it was important for me to hear, however strange (and to a point just plain creepy) that sounded. I still obeyed anyway and walked over to the voices, close enough for me to hear them, but not so close that it looked as though I was eavesdropping (even though that was _exactly_ what I was about to do). Pushing any thoughts about morals and values to the back of my head for now, I leaned in closer and listened.

"...not to get all friendly!" the first voice almost-shouted angrily.

"I know that. Don't think I've forgotten why I'm here," the second voice calmly replied, though I could sense the hidden irritation beneath that calmness.

With a shock, I realized that was Jellal talking. Which, when you think about it, wasn't that strange since it was long after the end of school and we were practically the only ones still here. But then, to whom belonged the other voice? I didn't recognize it – at least not at the moment. So I looked around the corner to see for myself. The two of them were standing at the end of the hallway. Jellal had his back turned to me and the other guy's face was right in my line of vision. All the better. Spiky, maroon-colored hair. Pointy ears. Slanted eyes. Could it be... Erik? No, that was ridiculous. But the more I thought about it; why not?

Erik had also been one of the children at the orphanage. To say we'd been friends would be a huge overstatement, though. It was more like we sympathized with each other, being stuck in the same situation and all. Really, back then there were more like two separate groups: one consisting of Jellal, Milliana, Wally, Simon, Shō and me and the other one of Erik, Sorano, Sawyer, Richard and Macbeth. We tolerated each other and even helped one another at times against the caretakers, because, really, nothing unites better than a common enemy. Still though, when had the two of them become friends? After I'd left? And what was this about Jellal's reason for being here? I knew the whole 'being bored' façade was a lie.

"You'd better, otherwise _he_ wouldn't be too happy," Erik said.

"I certainly don't need a lecture from _you._ Now, get out of my way," Jellal said as he grabbed Erik by the shoulder, pushed him aside and walked though the door. And I guess that was the end of it, because Erik didn't pursue him, but scoffed instead before walking of in the opposite direction.

* * *

On the bus, the whole time I was on my way to the hospital, that short conversation kept replaying in my head. I didn't even know why I was making such a big deal out of it. So what is Erik and Jellal were friends now? Let them, I'd say. But something just wouldn't stop bugging me: who was 'he'? And what made him so important? I eventually had to let it go, because my endless musing wasn't going to get me anywhere – that much was certain. Instead, I tried to focus on the task at hand: Rob. I hadn't seen him for far too long.

The rest of the bus ride, I was luckily left at peace by my thoughts, so I was in a rather good mood as I entered Magnolia Hospital. I walked over to the receptionist, who – thanks to my frequent visits – now recognized me immediately every time I set even a single step inside.

"Miss Erza, glad to see you again," he said when I approached him. "You're here for Mr. Steeler, I presume."

"Yes, I am. Is it okay for me to see him?"

"I think so, but I'll check with his doctor, just to be sure. One second please." He grabbed the phone on his desk and made a quick call. Then he looked back at me. "He says that it's no problem, just as long as you don't do anything rash while you're there."

"Thank you, I won't," I replied as I began to walk away.

My feet immediately switched to auto-pilot as I walked the very familiar hallways towards my destination. Take a right corner. Then the stairs until the third floor. Turn left at the end of the hallway. Congratulations: you've reached your destination. I slowly opened the door to room 3-16 and was still kind of anxious even though I'd seen the scene that awaited me inside more than a couple of times. Somewhere inside me, I still had hope that this time would be different, only to be disappointed when it wasn't. Today was no exception.

He, the man who adopted me, was lying on the hospital bed, same as every other time. Rob seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but in truth he was just too weak to keep his eyes open for very long. I walked to sit down on the chair beside him.

He must have somehow noticed me come in despite his weakened state, because he extended his hand towards me. I took it immediately.

"Hello Grandpa," I told him.

Rob turned his head slightly and opened his eyes so that he could see me. "Hello my dear," he croaked.

I smiled genuinely. "Porlyusica told me to say hi for her to you." He smiled at that. "Listen, Grandpa, you wouldn't believe what happened today..." And I continued to tell him about my day, like I did every time I came to visit. I was careful to leave Jellal and everything related to him out of my story, though I'm not sure why. At some point, Rob must have fallen asleep again, because when I asked him for his take on a fight Natsu and Gray had, he didn't respond and his breathing was steady. I slowly gathered my things, careful not to wake him and squeezed his hand one last time before walking out of the room.

"Miss Erza, how nice of you to visit again," I heard as soon as I was out the door.

I turned around to see whose voice that was and smiled as soon as I recognized the man standing before me. "Hello Dr. Mikazuchi. I'm sorry, I didn't see you standing there. And yes, I like to visit as often as I can."

"I noticed. And I'm sure Mr. Steeler greatly appreciates it."

I smiled in response. Dr. Mikazuchi was Grandpa Rob's personal doctor and so I had met with him many times. He was a rather large, muscular man with short black hair, donned in always-present glasses and white doctor's coat (although I guess the latter was more a result of his choice of career than of personal preference). Since the first day I met him, the doctor had been nothing but polite and kind to me and yet that was not what I valued most about him. No, it was the fact that he didn't beat around the bush or tried to wrap the ugly truth with a nice ribbon to make it seem better somehow. Dr. Mikazuchi said it to me straight, regardless of how hard the situation might be. I respected that. I needed that. Otherwise it might lead to false hope and in my opinion, false hope was worse than having no hope at all.

I cleared my throat. "Are there any recent updates regarding my Grandpa, Doctor?"

He looked at me for a moment, before walking over to a couch at the side of the hallway. He sat down and gestured for me to do the same. Oh no, this was not a good sign. This was news that shouldn't be brought while standing, which meant one of two things: it either was a very long and technical explanation of further medical procedures they were going to try, or it was news that was bad enough that they thought I might not be able to stand afterwards. Considering the state Grandpa was in, there was only one possibility. I closed my eyes for a second to regain control of my raging emotions. Then, I looked up and met his gaze. I hoped the look in my eyes was saying something like ' _Come on, I can handle it'_ , but if I was being honest with myself, I knew that was not the case. I just wished I didn't look too pitiful.

"Miss Erza, like you know, I'm not one to sugarcoat things, so I'm not going to start now." I bit my lip, but he continued, "You are well aware that the accident was very serious and that Mr. Steeler is lucky to have even made it this far. We have tried to the absolute best of our abilities to make him recover, but I'm sorry to say that it was simply not enough. Despite how terribly it pains me to have to say this to you, it is something that must be done." He stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. Dr. Mikazuchi looked me in the eyes as he spoke the words I knew were coming, but wasn't prepared to hear. "Miss Erza, Mr. Steeler is dying."

Suddenly I was overly aware of my own breath. In. Out. In. Out. Constantly repeating. Something we've all grown so accustomed to, we barely notice it anymore. And yet it was absolutely essential to living. Living. Something that Grandpa Rob would soon cease to do. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to destroy something. I wanted to find a random guy and beat the hell out of him. I wanted to run away and never come back. I did none of those things, of course.

"How long does he have left?" I asked after I trusted myself enough to speak.

"It depends on how strong his will to live is. I would say about half a year at most."

"I see," my voice was monotonous, void of any emotion. I was afraid that if I showed any, I would break right then and there. I looked at my watch, which showed that it was 5:30 pm. "Thank you for telling me. I will come back tomorrow, but I need to go to work now, or I'll be late. Good evening, Dr. Mikazuchi." With that said, I walked away without looking back even once.

* * *

My hands were shaking when I took out my key to open the front door. My heart was beating violently despite my attempts to calm it down on the bus ride home. I was glad that I had to work, it would keep my mind of things. The door finally opened with a loud 'click' which echoed through the otherwise silent house. I flinched. I had gotten used to the silence during the last couple of months, but now I knew it was never going to go back to the way things used to be, before that fateful day. Memories of the 'accident' began crawling their way back into my thought, but I suppressed them. I couldn't deal with that. Not now.

I quickly gathered my things and was on my way to 8-Island, the diner I worked at. I was lucky it was close enough for me to walk to whole road there, because there was no way I could work – or even function properly with the state I was in. And taking a long walk was the perfect way to clear my head. After all, it had worked every other time.

"You're late." Mira's voice greeted me as soon as I came in.

I took of my jacket and hung it on the coat rack close to the door. "Yeah. Sorry, I needed to clear my head for a bit."

"What? Don't tell me you're still hung up on that Jellal guy and his little show from this morning," she joked, oblivious to my mood.

I decided the had to make do with a weak fake smile as an answer. "I'll go change," I said and walked over to the changing room. There I found Lucy, who had already finished changing into her uniform, which was identical to mine.

"Hey, Erz," she greeted me.

"Hey," was all I said. I began changing. Normally it took me about two seconds to change into my complete uniform, which was a record (Yes, we had a competition once. Don't ask.). I guess it was one of my weird talents a long with being a able to eat six strawberry cakes in one minute. But today was far from normal and of course it took a whole lot longer than that.

"Is everything okay?" Lucy asked. "You seem distant."

No. Nothing is okay. Not at all. I'm falling apart. "Yes. I'm a bit distracted, is all."

She granted me a smile. "Okay, if you say so. Just know that if you want to, you can always talk to me."

"I know. Thanks," I said while putting on my apron, the final piece of the uniform. And I did know. I just wasn't ready. For now I had buried everything deep inside and talking about it would only bring it to the surface again.

"Well, if you're ready, we'd better go. We're late and with the way business is blooming lately, I'm sure Mira and Cana are going to need all the help they can get."

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," I said and together we walked into the kitchen. There, Gray and Natsu were already preparing the orders for the first guests, while (of course) busy arguing about some trifling matter. I couldn't get myself to care.

"Erza, Lucy, would you two come here for a second, will you?" Mr. Yajima, the owner of 8-Island, called. We walked over to him. "I've already discussed this with Cana and Mirajane. I have a feeling today will be a busy one, so I will need your best game tonight. Can I count on you?"

"Of course, Mr. Yajima," we said in unison.

"Thank you, my dears," the old man said with a smile and all I could think about was how the fuck I was supposed to tell him that his old friend Rob didn't have very long anymore. "Well, now that that's out of the way.. Erza, will you take tables ten up until fifteen and Lucy, will you take the rest?"

"Yes, no problem!" Lucy enthusiastically exclaimed.

I simply nodded. "Excuse me, Mr. Yajima, but I think one of my tables already needs my attention."

"Of course, my dear."

I forced a smile (because it was sort of part of the uniform) and walked over to my first customers of the evening. There were three of them, all of them men. And fat ones, at that. I noticed them taking me in and felt positively repulsed. Still, I pushed down my anger and said, "Good evening and welcome to 8-Island. I'll be your waitress for tonight. Now, can I get you something to drink?" My polite, happy tone sounded fake even to me. Not that it really mattered, anyway. As long as I'd get them what they ask for, all was good.

"Three beer and three times the Day Special," was the answer.

"Coming right up," I said even though I hadn't been paying attention and had no clue whatsoever as to what they'd actually ordered. That's okay. I was a decent enough guesser and by now I had a fairly good idea of what our most popular orders were. I returned to the kitchen and immediately asked for three beer, because I figured with guys like that, there was nothing else it could possibly be. The Day Special seemed like a solid choice, so I asked for three of that one also.

"You got it Erza!" Natsu exclaimed when I told him the order, grinning wildly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. Just try not to eat it this time, would you?" I saw him flinch for a second at my use of tone and I immediately regretted it. He didn't deserve to be treated that way. I signed and began apologizing, "Look, Natsu-"

"It's okay, Erza. I know you didn't mean it like that." He granted me another one of his smiles. "We all have some tough days once in a while. So don't worry about it."

What did I ever do to deserve such friends?

When the orders had been prepared, I brought them over to the table. I must have gotten their orders right, I think, because neither one of them voiced a complaint. I was just glad to know I could still do _something_ right.

The rest of the night, I continued to serve my customers. I handed them order after order and I was glad, because I was far too busy to think about anything. So I was almost disappointed when the guests slowly started leaving and the restaurant calmed down. Around 10:30 p.m., when the last of them had left, Mr. Yajima called us all together for a team meeting, same as every other day. He all thanked us for our hard work and asked us if there was any issue we wanted to address at the moment. Gray took this as an opportunity to tell us all that Juvia has _really_ started to creep him out by eating at 8-Islands every time he was working there. He didn't even know how she figured out he was working there, not to mention his schedule. Gray suggested to ban her from the restaurant when he was working there, if only to let him focus on his cooking instead of having her continuously staring at him through the kitchen door window. His motion was firmly denied, of course.

"Well then, if no one has anything else that needs addressing to, I would like to continue with the daily cleaning duties," Mr. Yajima said. "Every one knows what he or she is supposed to do, right?" We all nodded in agreement. "Good. If we all do our best, I'm sure we will be done very quickly."

I started cleaning the tables, seeing as how it was my turn tonight. When I was starting my fifth table, Mira suddenly was beside me, cloth in hand. She started scrubbing the other side of the table.

I looked up. "You don't have to do that, you know. It's my turn tonight."

She smiled softly. "I know. I'm done with my chore already and I just thought you might need some help, is all."

For some reason that really struck me the wrong way. "I don't."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. I don't need your help. I'm perfectly fine doing this on my own. I have always done this alone and I won't stop now." I don't know how it happened exactly, but it suddely wasn't about cleaning the tables anymore. I knew I was just angry and frustrated and that Mira had done nothing wrong, but I was getting really, really mad and the words just kept on coming. "I am strong enough. I don't need any help. Not from you, not from anyone else. And I certainly don't need your pity!" I felt the tears coming up and I knew I had to get out of here. I looked her in the eyes, before saying, "But you know what? I'm feeling generous today, so if you like cleaning that much, why don't you do it all by yourself!"

After that, I turned around, grabbed my stuff and stormed out the backdoor, knocking Gray out of the way in the process. The first thing that hit me was how cold it was. I left my coat at the diner, though, and there was absolutely no way I'd go back there. So I just kept on going, sometimes walking, sometimes running. I wasn't sure where I was going. I had no destination in mind and it was not like there was anyone waiting for me at home.

I had walked/run for what seemed like hours at the time, but was probably more like twenty minutes, when I came across an old playground. With a shock, I recognized it as the one where I'd met Natsu and the others years ago. I must have come here subconsciously. Here of all places. What a joke.

Nevertheless, I walked over to a bench on the side and sat down. I don't know why. I think it was partly because I didn't want to go home to that empty house just yet and also partly because one of my happiest memories had taken place here and I was in need of something happy right about now. Either way, as I sat there, I started to remember all different kinds of memories, happy or sad. All of them featured Grandpa Rob.

The strange thing was, even though the night sky was clear without any clouds in sight, it must have started raining at some point, because how else could you explain the drops gathering in my lap?

* * *

 **Well... that was kind of depressing... For me at least. This chapter wasn't supposed to turn out this way, but I guess it just kinda happened. Sorry if you wanted something else, but I write how I'm currently feeling and seeing as how my grandmother died recently... I decided to be cruel and do the same to poor Erza.**

 **Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be so whining, so on a happier note: Thank you all so much who reviewed or followed or favorite(d?) this story! It is very encouraging and even though it will probably sometimes take a while before I update, with the proper encouragement I will continue! That said, I hope all of you (still) liked the chapter and, if so, please let me know.**

 **Thank you! And until next time!**

 **-Reros**


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